Written in English for the purpose of brushing up my English skills. I'd like to make friends with someone who lives in Estonskaya, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Frivolous comments aren't welcome on this blog.

August 2015 posts

Aug 15, 2015

Awa-odori Dance is one of the most popular summer events of Japan. It's held in Tokushima Prefecture, next to my prefecture, Ehime, but I've never seen it live. I've heard that the origin of the dance dates back to the late Edo period, 18th century. There are other theories, of course, but it's true that the dance came from a rather old era. To add a comment, videos or photos didn't exist in those days and so the original melodies, rhythms, and movements don't accurately come down to the present. The movement of the present Awa-odori dance was designed to encourage disappointed people after World War 2nd. The Awa-odori dance has two types of movement, which are called men-type, and women-type respectively. Men never dance in the women-type way, but women are allowed to dance in the men-type way. The movement of the dance is humorous or funny, but dynamic in men, and charming in women at the same time. Tokushima City, the capital city of Tokushima Prefecture, is swarming with local people and lots of sightseers during the period of the dance, from Aug 12th to 15th. The hotels are naturally fully booked. I asked the travel agency to get a room on the final night in April far in advance and enjoyed the dance with my wife and daughters. It was a lot of fun.

Aug 14, 2015

My jogging shoes got worn to a useless level. I remember the day as if it was yesterday when I saw the Ehime Marathon at the finish point in February in 2013 and immediately decided to take up jogging to join the marathon, and bought the shoes on the way back. Two and a half years have passed since then. I couldn't have finished any marathon, but my physical strength became surely stronger before I started to jog. I am really thankful for the opportunity to see the successful runners' joyful faces and making friends with several fellow marathon runners. Back to the shoes, I wonder how long I had run with these shoes. Judging from my runner's watch, the distance will come to from 600 to 700km. I attended 10km roadraces twice this year and I'll join the Osaka Marathon on Oct. 25th for the first finish after another 10km roadrace on Oct. 10th. The green shoes in the picture are the replacement.

(Vocabulary)come to sth: to add up to a total amount:That comes to £23.50. / The bill came to £48.50.

Aug 02, 2015

I drove my car to Yawatahama City with my father. The Destroyer Abukuma was open to the public in the city as one of the PR activities of the Japan Self-Defence Force(JSDF). Japanese people extremely hate warfare and weapons due to being brainwashed by the Japanese Constitution drafted by General Douglas MacArthur and his subordinates. Ordinary people have not thought of the JSDF since its establishment, but not now. Arrogant Chinese behaviour has completely woken us Japanese up. The number of visitors to the exhibition was seemingly at a record high.